About

Café Paragon specializes in European fare and bar-style foods. Open for lunch and dinner, its menu consists of gourmet salads, sandwiches and pastas. During dinner hours, you can choose from a variety of entrees, including braised short ribs, lamb chops and roasted chicken. On Sundays, Café Paragon offers a special brunch menu of omelets, carved meats, quiches, muffins and pancakes.

Keeping with its European theme, Café Paragon has chic décor with red bar stools, hardwood floors and chandelier lighting. Equipped with a full-service bar, the restaurant offers a menu of both domestic and imported beers, as well as wines and mixed drinks.

Thank you for choosing Cafe Paragon / Viva Restaurant located at 234 Thayer Street, in the heart of the East Side for your private function needs. We have a variety of private menus to choose from to make your occasion and business function a memorable one.

This was our first time at Cafe Paragon. The food selection was very good. Our service was poor until we complained to the manager. Our waitress was moved to a private party and did not seem to be aware that pancakes were a special order that she was supposed to give to the kitchen. I was told to give my order to the man at the carving station, he said that the waitress is supposed to write it down and give the order to the kitchen. He got the manager for me and he took my order for the kitchen and also spoke with the waitress. She apologized to the people at the table when I was up front waiting for the pancakes. We had to hunt her down for drink refills. We will probably try it again as long as we do not get the same waitress.

Paragon is getting a bit old, dirty and needs a good cleaning or remodel. The back half of the restaurant smells musty and dank and is not very inviting to eat a meal. The men's room also smelled horrible. Food was okay, nothing spectacular. Service was good. This is not a fine dining restaurant.

This was our second visit to Cafe Paragon. Our food was great and our server was personable and attentive. The Bruschetta appetizer was so delicious. The only reason the food receives a 4-star is because my husband ordered a pepperoni pizza and it was pretty greasy. The other food at our table was all fabulous.

Visit Cafe Paragon regularly, and tried a sirloin steak special this evening. Sirloin steak was covered in cream of corn, and it was fantastic!! Very different dish with many different flavors from the bacon crumbles, sweet corn, and steak flavor. Told the chef and manager that it was amazing, and it should be a regular on the menu!

Paragon is an absolutely outstanding restaurant, in every aspect. The menu, service, and management is 1st class. Pano is particularly to be commended, always. It is a pleasure for me and my family to dine at Paragon. Thank you! Fr. Barry Meehan

Honestly we come here it's a place you go to for mediocre food. Hummus is good as is the scallop app. The salads aren't creative move like they throw a large amount of arugula on a plate and handful of toppings, don't dress it and then whatever side you ask for is usually lost in the massive amount of greens. We got shrimp as ours and the shrimp were so small and over cooked they were shriveled to a dime size. We will be back for apps and that's all. Service was great.

As an alumni in town for the weekend, our group reserved a table as this location was a fan favorite in college. After this experience, you need to pay me to go back! 1) I personally ordered the French burger (because I love Boursin cheese) and was given a burger without the French (Boursin) and was told that they had run out of the cheese when the burger was in front of me. 2) We had a number of issues that were not addressed and handled by the management appropriately. The server and the managers were not working in cooperation with one another, which needs to be fixed. 3) We waited over 45-60 minutes just to pay and get our check adjusted after our numerous issues, which led to more frustration than what needed to happen.

Obviously a place for young college students. Food was ok (got burgers) - fries were terrible - limp and soggy (both potato and sweet potato fries)...just fair. Noise was so loud (Sat night at 7pm) that we could not hear friends sitting across from us. Really, really noisy. Perhaps this is a place for young college students who don't care about conversation. Not fit for middle age friends wanting a decent meal and time to connect.

I will begin by saying that I loved the 64 oz Sangria tower. In fact, that is what brought us to Cafe Paragon. The food was ok, but not great. The sirloin was extremely dry and the steamed vegetables could probably have been steamed for a little bit longer.

I brought my parents recently for a quick bite before an event at Brown, and found the service outstanding. The menu had a lot of choices, and our food was good. We were in a hurry so the valet parking was helpful. The noise level was very high but my father uses a cane so it was easier to sit near the kitchen than to climb elsewhere.

Mussels appetizer very tasty with lots of sauce for dipping the delicious bread. Just the right portion for sharing, too. Rigatoni pasta dish very cheesy but delicious. Seafood zuppa special rich with clams but could have used some pasta...maybe order a side of angel hair?

We were seated 45 minutes after our reservation time. Ordered lobster Mac and cheese but was mistakenly given baked ziti; rather than just asking me to wait a few minutes for the correct dish, the cooks and my server attempted to trick me by dumping cold lobster on top and giving it back. Horrible from start to finish.

It was valentine's day, so i expected it to be busy. We showed up 10 minutes before our reservation, and there was a large group of people waiting to be seated, but we got a table right away. We got a table for two between two other tables with couples already seated, and we were so close together it was hard not to eavesdrop. Crab cakes for an appetizer were tasty, we both got pasta dishes which were excellent, and the flourless chocolate cake was like fudge. The waitress was a little slow on drinks, but it was busy. Overall a great night for around $60.

I come here frequently for dinner and a movie kind of nights or for birthday parties. Great place for college students, families, or a hob who wants great service, tasty food, and a cool atmosphere. Affordable and interesting.

Viva salad a nice combination of ingredients and delicious dressing. Margharita pizza could have used a little more than one piece of basil to divide among 6 pieces of pizza. Also pizza came out too soon, before we had finished salad course, but it was kept hot until we were ready for it.

Havent been to Paragon in probably 2 yrs. I always loved the food. Not sure if its under new ownership or management but the menu is lacking. The food was just ok ....nothing special. I was really disappointed. They have done better in the past.

I've eaten at Paragon many times over the years. This visit was very nice. They were very accommodating, the service was good and everyone liked their food. It's a fun place to eat. I will definitely be back.

We were very impressed with the variety of the menu which includes choices for both carnivores and vegetarians. Our party of three stopped for an early supper on the way back from the train station. We chose to share several Tapas items and all were excellent. We hope to return to sample other things from the extensive and varied menu.